Sure, being the hero in a fairytale is noble and all, but there's often more fun playing the villain.

Actor Cameron Bond knows this truth very well. In the Broadway touring production of "Beauty and the Beast," he portrays Gaston, the village hunter who is rejected by the beautiful Belle (Jillian Butterfield) and tries — first humorously, then menacingly — to thwart the growing love between her and the Beast (Ryan Everett Wood). The show stops at Elmira's Clemens Center for three performances next week.

The San Diego native exists because of Disney magic — his parents met working at Disneyland — so he enjoyed the 1991 animated "Beauty and the Beast" from a young age.

"Gaston always was a dream role from when I was little," Bond said during a recent tour stop in Pittsburgh. "When I first saw the musical at the Starlite Theater in San Diego, I laughed so hard at Gaston — I was probably about 8 — but I've never got to play the role until now."

Although he got involved with theater at age 5 — his two older sisters "dragged" him along to their own early onstage endeavors — Bond balanced acting and sports throughout his high school years. At Azusa Pacific University, he earned a business degree and did theater productions on the side.

After college, he worked for Proctor & Gamble and later the creative agency Troika as a production coordinator for brand designs, including NBC Sports and the recent CNN campaign "Go There." The urge to be an actor remained strong, though.

"I realized that I'd never given theater a fair shot at being a career, even though I loved it," Bond said. "I quit my job last May, I got a couple of regional gigs in the LA area, and then I got this tour — so I'm rewriting my career path and seeing where this could take me."

His coworkers were supportive of the move: "Because it's a creative agency, everyone is about being creative and expressing your artistic form. Everyone thought it was cool!"

More than 9,000 actors auditioned for this "Beauty and the Beast" tour, which uses the original music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton. Featured are favorite songs from the film such as "Be Our Guest" (of course), "Belle," "Gaston" and "Human Again" as well as new tunes.

The plot revolves around a cursed prince who has been turned into a beast, and he must find true love before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose. The enchantress also turned all the prince's servants into anthropomorphic household items, such as Lumière (Patrick Pevehouse), Cogsworth (Samuel Shurtleff), Madame de la Grande Bouche (Kelly Teal Goyette), Babette (Melissa Jones), and Mrs. Potts (Emily Jewell) and her son, Chip (Ross Nemeth / Logan Sejas). Also in the cast are Thomas Mothershed as Belle's eccentric inventor dad and Jake Bridges as Gaston's long-suffering sidekick Lefou.

"In the first act, Gaston is more of a funny, lovable goober — and then he slowly becomes the villain as Belle continues to deny him," Bond said. "So it's fun for me in Act 1 to get the laughs from the audience and be silly, and then in Act 2 I become the villain, so I get to fulfill the 'making-kids-cry' part of the role."

The amiable actor was quick to point out that he and Gaston have little in common, though: "I don't have any hate in my heart that I necessarily pull from. I just get into my head what Gaston's wants and objectives are — which is to marry Belle — and I put high stakes on it mentally."

As part of the show, Bond has met or worked with the creative team behind the original Broadway production of "Beauty and the Beast," including director Robert Jess Ross, choreographer Matt West, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, set designer Stanley Meyer and lighting designer Natasha Katz.

"It's so cool to work with the best of the best when I'm just starting out my career, so I'm honored to have that opportunity," Bond said. "Audiences across the country are still in love with this show, and it's amazing to be a part of it."

Clearly, the appeal of the show — based on a traditional French fairytale — has not waned in since its premiere in 1994: "This is one of the purest love stories — looking past the exterior and falling in love with someone based on who they are. The lesson is revolutionary and timeless."

IF YOU GO

•What: "Disney's Beauty and the Beast"

•When: 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (April 21-23)

•Where: The Clemens Center, 207 Clemens Center Parkway, Elmira

•Tickets: $59.50, $49.50 and $29.50 for Clemens Center members and subscribers to Broadway Series; $64, $51 and $34 for general public. Purchase at the Clemens Center box office, by phone at (607) 734-8191 or (800) 724-0159; or online at clemenscenter.com.